Chapter 6: Morning Mishaps

Serenity's eyes flickered to his lips and he didn't miss it.

"Umh…"

He drew in a sharp breath and turned away, mentally cursing himself. He cleared his head with a sip of tea and stared down at the table.

Serenity, feeling suddenly queasy, reached into her purse to try and find a pain reliever.

"I'll be back in a minute." Malik murmured, getting up and heading for the restrooms.

Serenity slapped a palm to her forehead.

"God, how stupid!"

Kylie came bounding back into her seat, giggling and flushed. Ryou sat down after her.

"That was so much fun! What else am I going to learn about you tonight? You can sing, you can dance, and you can resist three girls trying to make you cosplay. You're an enigma."

Ryou laughed.

"Hardly! Oh, hey, where's Malik?"

"Restroom." Serenity mumbled, popping a Tylenol into her mouth and stealing Ryou's tea to swallow it with.

"You all right?"

"Oh, yeah, fine." She said, her voice a higher pitch than normal.

Kylie and Ryou exchanged knowing grins.

"What happened between you and Malik?"

"Nothing," sighed Serenity, picking up her spoon from the table and using it to take a scoop of her shake.

She nearly choked on it when Malik sat back down looking upset. He'd been the last person to eat off it. He sent her a wary glance.

"Hey, I wiped it off." He said.

She fought her grin.

"I know, it's my throat that's bugging menow."

He snorted.

"I see how it is…"

The four of them walked slowly down the hallway towards their rooms.

"No, it isn't! It's our choice!" Ryou argued.

"Yeah, I really don't like the taste of meat." Malik added.

Kylie and Serenity glanced at each other in exasperation.

"I'm sure there's one meat we could get you into. I mean, seriously, you turned green when you saw the chili fries."

"No, I turned green when you started eating them like there was no tomorrow."

Kylie, looking offended, crossed her arms over her chest.

"I like chili fries! So sue me!"

"Whatever."

"Seriously, though, it's not some kind of animal rights thing. We just don't like meat."

"Yeah, well it makes you one hell of a dinner guest. What if you're at a party and all they have is meat?"

Ryou grinned.

"I politely tell them I'm not feeling well."

Serenity snorted.

"That's lame, Ryou."

"Maybe, but it works every time."

"Ryou!" Kylie gasped, surprised at him.

He laughed and knocked on his door. Jou opened it and looked pointedly at Serenity.

"You haven't been raped, drugged, or drunk, right?" He asked.

She scowled and chose not to answer him.

"Good night, brother."

Jou cut his eyes at her and disappeared inside his room. Ryou shrugged.

"Sorry, Serenity. I'll try and talk some sense into him."

"Thanks, Ryou…"

He smiled.

"No problem."

"G'night, you guys. I'll see you tomorrow, right Ky?"

Kylie nodded and hugged Serenity.

"Of course! I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Okay."

"'Night, Serenity!" Kylie chirped.

"G'night, Serenity." Ryou said at the same time.

Serenity smiled at them and went back to her door.

"Umh…"

She looked up at Malik blankly.

"Yeah?"

"I…uh…I'm really sorry about…I mean, I don't know what came over me and I really hope…"

Her eyebrows rose. He sighed in defeat.

"Can you forgive me?"

She lifted a shoulder.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? I've only known you for a day."

Malik caught the edge in her voice and put his hand on her arm.

"Please don't be angry at me, I'm just…I was just…I dunno."

She felt her disappointment ebb away into amusement. Malik was tongue-tied.

"You were what?"

"Umh…caught up?"

"What?"

"I was just caught up…in the…"

She stared at him.

"In the moment?"

"Yeah. Yeah, in the moment. You know, all the dancing people, and…and you, and…the drawing on the napkin. I just never really thought about what—what I was doing." He stammered, avoiding her gaze.

"What were you doing?"

His eyes widened as he looked down at her.

"Uh, I was…"

He jumped and reached into his jacket pocket for his ringing cell phone. He looked between it and Serenity.

"I'm sorry, I have to answer it. She'll kill me if I don't."

She nodded coldly, leaning against her door to wait.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked into the mouthpiece.

He waited while his sister answered and sighed.

"Yeah, it's okay. I just talked to him last night and he said…"

Serenity watched as his face paled.

"You're kidding."

There was a short pause and anguish filled his eyes.

"Oh my God…I'll get a plane ticket and come home. No, it's okay, it doesn't matter—Isis, this is more important! I'll be home tomorrow. I'll call you before I leave."

He flipped his cell phone shut and stared at his reflection on the cover.

"What happened?"

He jumped.

"Huh? Oh, my brother…umh, he's hurt. Look, I gotta go get a plane ticket. Thanks for dinner tonight."

"Oh, umh, no problem. Good luck."

"Thanks. G'night."

"Yeah. G'night."

He left her alone in the hallway and she slumped to the ground, her back against the door. She gathered the bottom of her skirt and pulled her knees up to her chin.

Ryou came around the corner, having escorted Kylie to her room, and sat down beside Serenity.

"What're you depressed about?" He asked.

"He's leaving tomorrow. His brother got hurt."

Ryou frowned and patted her knee.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Even as she said the words, she knew it wasn't. They'd ended on a bad note and she couldn't help but feel entirely responsible.

Ryou handed her a handkerchief and she dabbed at the tears that were coursing down her cheeks.

"You'll be all right. You tried."

She hiccupped and leaned on him. He allowed her to, silently wondering what had caused her reaction.

"Ryou, I don't know what happened. He used to be…so much more self-assured."

"He's, uh, changed since Battle City. He's been able to get over a lot of stuff and he's been happy. He might've lost that super ego, but at least he can laugh now."

She sighed.

"I guess…but he also stumbles all over himself when he's trying to apologize. He should've just left it at 'sorry'."

"Apologize? For what?"

"I'm not sure if he was apologizing for almost kissing me or for not kissing me."

"Wait, when did…? Ohh! When we were dancing!" He breathed, slapping his forehead.

"Mmhmm."

Ryou rubbed her back lightly.

"God, I wish I'd have known. I'm so sorry, Serenity."

"It's okay."

She believed herself that time. She would be okay knowing that her first kiss had almost been with Malik Ishtar. And, she figured, she still had time to get back into his good graces. She just had to catch him before he left in the morning. Or…something…

She gasped and sat up straight.

"Oh, duh!"

"Huh?"

Serenity pushed herself up into a standing position and helped Ryou up after her.

"I've got to draw something. See you in the morning, Ryou."

She spared him a quick one-armed hugged before unlocking her door and dashing inside to find her sketch book.

Ryou blinked as the door closed and sent a wary glance over at his own door. Deciding that Jou was probably going to throttle him for what he'd done that morning, he turned to Malik's door and knocked.

Malik opened the door and quirked his eyebrow at him.

"What's up?"

"I'm afraid Jou's going to murder me. Mind if I stay in your room?"

Malik, grinning, opened the door wider to him.

"Don't mind at all. Why's he going to kill you?"

"Because I let you sit with Serenity where he couldn't see."

"So…?"

Ryou sighed.

"He's jealous 'cause of this art project…"

"That's not normal."

"Sure it is. She was supposed to draw someone she cared about."

"What, did it not look like him?"

"No, it looked remarkably like you." Ryou muttered.

Ryou watched Malik's expression go from confused to understanding.

"Oh, hell, Ryou…I'm such a bastard!"

Serenity smiled at her sketch and glanced at her clock. It was past midnight, but she could hear mumbled voices through the wall and knew he was still awake. She carefully tore the sketch from the book and tip-toed over to the door that joined their rooms together. She slid the paper under the door halfway and nearly screamed in shock when someone on the other side of the door grabbed it. She placed her hand over her racing heart and sat back on her heels.

She was waiting for a few minutes, then another piece of paper came under the door. She took it and read the short message:

I'm leaving at 6. Meet me for breakfast?

Shakily, she wrote back one word and put the paper under the door. It came back quickly reading:

5 AM in the lobby. I'll meet you there.

Serenity looked at the clock beside her bed and sighed. She had slept intermittently for the past three hours and yet she still had another hour to wait before her alarm was set to go off.

She tried fluffing her pillow, pulling the blankets up more, flipping over to her other side, then flipping again to her stomach. She groaned in defeat and got out of bed. She picked up her sketch book and pencil and sat beside the window to capture whatever natural light there was at half past 3.

Serenity got into the elevator alone, yawning, and dead on her feet from exhaustion. Yet she still checked her makeup on the reflective walls of the elevator. The letter 'L' on the grill lit up and the elevator dinged quietly. Taking a deep breath to calm herself (and stop herself from yawning again), she stepped out into the lobby.

There he was, sitting with his luggage at his feet and his cell phone dangling from his fingertips. It took her a second glance to see the bags under his eyes, indicating that he had slept just as well as she had.

"Good morning." She murmured.

He looked up at her and quickly got to his feet.

"'Morning. Umh…"

"When do you, uh, have to leave?"

"The taxi's coming at ten to six."

"Oh, well…I guess we should eat quickly."

Malik forced a small smile and motioned for her to go first towards the restaurant. He followed after her, pulling his suitcases with him.

"How many?"

"Two, please." Serenity replied to the host.

"Right this way."

They were seated in the nearly empty restaurant, save for two other diners who looked as if they were about to pass out in their food. Serenity giggled to herself when she saw them and realized that Malik and she probably looked the same way.

"What…?" Malik trailed, following Serenity's gaze to the couple.

"I was wondering if we look worse or better than them." She explained, still grinning about it.

Malik looked confused and Serenity sighed.

"Sorry. It's the lack of sleep talking."

"Oh," he chuckled, "me too. Ryou slept fine, but I was awake all night worried about…"

"Your brother?"

"Yeah, and…and you. Umh, Ryou told me about the art project."

Her cheeks burned bright red.

"Oh, God, you probably think I'm crazy, huh? I mean, I barely know you and here I am drawing you instead of Jou, and then he got angry and so did Honda, and now he's angry at me again even though I ripped the drawing, and I think it's because I like you so much and he doesn't 'cause you tried to kill Yugi—don't get me wrong, I didn't like you very much either when you tried to do that, but now you've changed and—!"

Malik held up and hand to stop her.

"Hold on, Serenity. You're rambling and I really only understood one sentence."

She gulped.

"Which one?"

"'It's because I like you so much'."

She groaned.

"Did I really say that out loud? I didn't mean to…"

"I figured. Look, I'm sorry that everyone reacted that way, especially your brother. I know he means the world to you—"

"Not at the moment, he doesn't."

Malik rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Don't push him away, Serenity. Trust me. I know how hard it is to try and pull them back."

"I'm not—I mean, I'm just a little peeved 'cause he's…"

"Trying to protect you. I know. I'm the youngest too, remember? You're lucky you only have one older sibling trying to protect you. I've got two."

Serenity bit back a grin. She really couldn't imagine Malik being coddled and protected by his sister and brother. Then again, she'd heard enough of his phone conversations with Isis to know that he was speaking the truth.

"You have my sympathy." She replied.

Their conversation was interrupted by a waiter bringing them water and asking for drink orders. Once he was gone, Malik directed his attention back to Serenity.

"What I was trying to say was that I'm really sorry all your friends were angry at you, and I…well, when Ryou told me you drew me, I was…really…happy."

She choked on the sip of water she'd taken. After managing to swallow the water instead of breathing it, she turned her wide eyes on Malik.

"Really? But…but last night you—"

"Made a mistake. I tried to blame it on that skirt you were wearing (it's very distracting), but it was my fault for leading you on. I don't want to leave on a bad note. I want the right to say that I had a good time and made the right choices. I'm hoping that I can fix last night's mistake withthis morning."

Serenity nodded.

"You're about halfway through fixing it."

He grinned.

"Do I have to keep on going to fix the other half?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "You just have to pay the bill."

Malik chuckled and took a gulp of water.

"Done."

"And you have to trust me to order you breakfast."

He blanched.

"Serenity, if you get something with meat in it—"

She cut him off with laughter.

"No! I'm not going to reform you yet. I've heard this place has the best crepes in all of Japan."

"I would hope so, since that's a French food." He muttered.

She giggled as the waiter returned with their drinks.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yes. We're going to share the strawberry crepes. And can you split it into two plates?"

"Yes ma'am. Is that all?"

"Yes sir." Malik replied curtly, looking at the waiter with mock innocence.

Serenity gave him a look, but the waiter didn't seem to notice as he moved on to the other table. Malik grinned to himself.

"Sorry. It bugs me when waiters do that."

"Do what?"

"Call everyone 'sir' or 'ma'am'. It's too formal for this restaurant. Especially at 5:30 in the morning."

Serenity rolled her eyes and took a small sip of her coffee. She nearly spit it out.

"Crap. Forgot to put cream and sugar in." She mumbled, reaching for the small basin of creamer.

Malik's shoulders shook with silent laughter and she looked up at him inquiringly.

"What? Are you laughing at me?"

He nodded, then thought better of it andquickly shook his head.

"Kind of. The face you made when you tasted the black coffee…" He trailed off into a snigger.

She stuck her tongue out at him and mixed in sugar with her coffee.

"It was disgusting." She said simply, using the end of her spoon to stir the murky brown liquid.

He put his fist up to his mouth to hold back any slips of mirth and she sighed.

"You can laugh out loud. It's not a crime. Besides, Ryou said..."

Malik sobered quickly when she mentioned Ryou and he leaned forward an inch.

"What'd he say?"

She stared into the steam rising from her cup.

"He said that after Battle City, you could laugh again. I kind of took his word for it since he knows you better than me—"

"No, he's right. If I laughed before or during Battle City, it was a bad omen. For the good side, at least."

She met his gaze with confusion.

"Good side?"

"That would be Yugi and company."

"Oh! Jeez, I really am tired."

He smiled.

"So am I. Like I said, I was up all night by the phone."

"Is your brother really hurt that badly?"

He nodded and glanced up at the approaching waiter.

"Car accident. Isis wasn't in the car, thank God, but if she had been, she wouldn't be here today."

The waiter set the two plates of crepes down in front of them and wished them a happy eating and disappeared into the kitchen again.

"What happened?"

"Well, they were driving up to Cairo from Luxor and they stopped so Isis could use the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom, another car lost control and swerved into the passenger side of the car."

"Oh my God." She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Isis was calling from the hospital last night. He's fine, he's just…well…you know. He looks like he ran into a gang or something."

"Is Isis okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. They treated her for shock and let her stay overnight at the hospital."

"Oh, thank God. So who's picking you up from the airport?"

"Oh, Isis' boyfriend. He's actually studying in Cairo, so he was the first choice."

"Studying…what?"

"Anthropology or something. He's in his last year of college and decided to study abroad. Cairo University took him for the year."

"Well, that would make sense, right? I mean, Egypt is a really good place to go if you want to be an archaeologist. All the unburied tombs and such…"

Malik frowned.

"That's what he says. But we get enough tourists down in that area to last us a lifetime. I think it's time someone stayed with the Mayan temples for a few decades and fill in all of history's holes."

Serenity giggled and forked a strawberry off his plate. His jaw dropped slightly and he used his fork to try and get it back.

"Food stealer!" He accused, managing to hit the strawberry off her fork and onto her plate.

"Whatever! You got all the strawberries!"

"And they're gonna stay on my plate." He retorted, picking up the strawberry from her plate with his fork and dropping it into his mouth before she could say another word about it.

"That's what you think."

She stole another one and quickly ate it.

"Ha!"

He scowled playfully and stole a bite of her last crepe.

"Hey! Oh, now it's on!"

For a few minutes, they stole each others food like there was no tomorrow and laughed like it was the most fun they'd ever had.

Then they ran out of food.

The waiter whisked the plates away with a look of disdain at their childish behavior and didn't say a word when he dropped off the bill.

Malik and Serenity sniggered once he was out of earshot.

"Like he's got anything better to do than clean up our mess…" Malik joked.

Serenity burst out laughing and wiped a splatter of whipped cream off the flowers in the middle of the table.

Malik looked over the bill and pulled out his wallet to pay for it. He marked how much tip was to be given (he was generous, considering the waiter had put up with them) and set the little black folder on the edge of the table for the waiter to pick up. Then he helped Serenity clean up the mess on and around the table.

The waiter took the bill and returned a moment later with the leftover change.

"Have a good day." He said stiffly.

Serenity giggled and got out of her seat, Malik following quickly on her heels with his luggage in tow.

Once they were back out in the lobby, Malik checked the time on his cell phone and grimaced.

"My taxi's going to be here in a minute. Will you, umh, wait with me?"

She smiled.

"Sure. I think you made all the right choices this morning."

He caught her meaning and flashed her a broad grin.

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'd hate to leave you angry at me."

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't quite sure why I was angry at you. I just…was." She murmured, her nose scrunched in uncertainty.

"I was angry at myself. I'm sure you had the same reason as me…whatever that reason is." He said, grinning.

They stepped out of the lobby and into the morning fog outside. A taxi pulled up and parked by the curb. The driver got out and looked to Malik questioningly. Malik nodded and handed his luggage off to him.

"Oh!" Serenity gasped, grabbing Malik's arm. "Hold on, I drew something for you this morning when I couldn't sleep!"

He glanced hesitantly at the driver, but he was too busy stuffing the bags into the trunk to care what Malik was doing.

Serenity dug through her canvas bag and withdrew her sketch book. She flipped it open and Malik caught flashes of her other sketches as she whisked through the pages until she found the right one.

It was a drawing of a tree. It was small and weak, but the iron gate surrounding it contradicted the frailty of the tree. She carefully tore the sketch out and handed it to him.

"It's what I can see out my hotel window. I don't know why it caught my attention, but…there it is."

He nodded, examining the tree with careful consideration.

"I saw this too. I wondered why they kept it out here. It looks like it's going to die."

"Of course it won't!" She laughed, causing Malik to look very perplexed.

She pointed to the iron gate.

"That gate keeps it strong. It keeps it from being killed by life."

And suddenly he understood the metaphor of the tree he was holding in his hands. It wasn't just a weak tree, it was Serenity; her very essence. And he'd never felt more proud to be part of an iron gate.

"I get it. But Serenity, you can't be this tree."

Her eyes widened.

"I can't what?"

"You can't be this tree. This tree is too fragile to be you. You're…you're…"

"Malik, it's just a tree." She murmured.

He shook his head.

"No it's not. This tree caught your attention because you can relate to it."

"Hey, buddy! Let's get going! It's an hour drive to the airport!" The cab driver called, leaning out of the driver's side door.

Malik bit his lip and looked back at the driver.

"Can you wait just one second? This is important."

"Yeah, you've got two minutes before I toss your crap out of the trunk and leave!"

Serenity scowled.

"Just calm down! This won't take more than two minutes." She snapped.

The driver rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, lady."

He slammed the door shut and started the cab.

Malik took a deep breath and stared down at Serenity.

"Serenity, this tree is you. That gate is your friends, your family. You think this is what you are, but you're not! You're not a dying tree in a city, you're an…oak! You're an oak. Strong, tall—well, okay, you're not very tall, but that's not the point—!"

Serenity's laugh made him stop.

"Okay, I get it. The tree isn't me. But you're still the gate."

His breath caught.

"The—the whole gate? But I thought—"

"No, that was the only deeper meaning. You're the gate."

A smile slowly worked its way upon his lips.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

But before he could answer, the doors to the hotel burst open and Jou came out leading the pack. Anzu's eyes were red as if she'd been crying and Yugi and Honda just looked terrified.

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick! Anzu hasn't stopped crying for half an hour and—!"

Serenity shook her head and looked back at Malik, letting her brother ramble.

"Thanks for what?"

The cab driver pulled the taxi out of park and revved the engine as a warning. Malik hesitated.

"Thanks for letting me be your gate."

She smiled.

"You're welcome."

Ryou came flying out after the group and stepped in front of Jou.

"Don't you dare, Jounouchi! Think about what she wants for once!" He said, pushing Jou back.

Jou glared at Ryou and pushed back.

"Don't get in my way, Bakura! No way in hell am I letting her see him!"

Malik glanced between the cab, Jou, and Serenity.

"I have to go. Here. Call me."

He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and shoved it into her hand. She gasped.

"But—"

"I really want to hear from you. Tell me who wins this thing."

"O-okay, but—"

"And I missed my chance to do this last night." He finished, pulling her in by her wrist and pressing his lips to hers.

Jou froze and Ryou dared to look around at Serenity and Malik. He smiled at what he saw, but he was knocked to the ground a second later. Desperately, he grabbed Jou's ankle. Jou kicked him off and rushed towards Serenity and Malik.

Malik pulled away and touched her cheek.

"Call me." He mumbled.

She nodded, her eyes closed.

Malik yanked open the cab door and jumped inside moments before Jou could rip him limb from limb. Jou seized Serenity's arm roughly and shook her so that her eyes snapped open.

"Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going this morning? We thought you'd been abducted—"

"I knew."

Jou swiveled on his heel and stared at Ryou incredulously.

"You knew she was going to meet that scumbag this morning?"

Ryou frowned and stood up, keeping his weight off his left ankle.

"No. I knew she was going to meet Malik this morning. I had no idea that she was meeting a scumbag."

Serenity lit up and jerked her arm away from Jou's grip. She went to Ryou's side and helped him stand.

"Thanks for, umh, everything." She whispered, glancing down at his ankle.

"Oh, no problem. I play match maker every day." He replied sarcastically.

She giggled.

"You should sit down and get that ankle checked out."

"Well, if Malik hadn't run for his life, he would've been able to fix it in a heartbeat." Ryou grumbled, using Serenity as a crutch on their walk back inside the hotel.

"Oh…really?"

"Yeah, he wants to go into medicine someday. He uses his friends and family as practice."

Serenity, feeling light a giddy from her first kiss, just chuckled and kept him moving towards the elevator.

Once she had him safely inside the elevator, she closed the doors so the rest couldn't follow them.

"So…what happened this morning?" Ryou asked.

She pressed the button for their floor and shrugged.

"We fixed problems, stole food, and shared a picture."

"Stole food? From where?" He gasped.

She grinned.

"Each others plates. Where did you think?"

Ryou glanced up at the mirror ceiling and sighed in relief.

"I thought he might've turned you into a convict."

She laughed and shook her head.

"No, but he did teach me something."

"Hmm?"

"He taught me why I love trees." She giggled.

Ryou's eyebrow rose in silent questioning of her sanity.

"I didn't know you loved trees."

"Well, not trees exactly. I love the metaphors they come with."

"Ah. Now it makes perfect sense." He said, rolling his eyes.

The doors slid open and she helped him out into the hallway.

"You and all my other friends and family are trees to me. You're always there and always solid. I wouldn't be here right now if it hadn't been for you guys. Therefore, you are a tree. As is everyone else that came with us."

"What about Malik?"

"Oh, yes," she giggled, "he's not exactly a tree. You see, he's my iron gate."

Ryou decided to leave it alone, figuring that she was just tired and excited that she'd finally gotten her first kiss from the one guy she'd wanted it from.

"Well, I hope you had fun with your iron gate this morning."

"Yup! Oh, that's what else he taught me."

"What?" He asked warily.

"He's a great kisser."

Yay! It's almost the end! But it's not! (Insert laughing emoticon here) I'm thinking two or three more chapters to go, including an epilogue. I know this is really short, but c'mon, think about it. The tournament was only two days. I'm surprised I stretched it out this far!

So, the next chapter will include the last day of the tournament and the ride home. Hopefully. It may include more, since I've decided that each chapter will be ten pages at the least. (Insert smiling emoticon) (Fanfiction sure is cracking down on the use of emoticons, eh? lol)

I hope everyone understood all that metaphor jumble…I had to put it in here somehow…

Anyways, have a lovely day and please review! Thanks!